Woolley Marketing: It was the pitch before Christmas…
In his regular column for Mumbrella, Trinity P3 founder and global CEO Darren Woolley suggests the festive season is the time for partying rather than pitching.
This time last year the big news was the Coca Cola Company was undertaking a global pitch for creative and media services. We know how that Christmas story ended with the appointment of WPP to the bulk of the business globally, almost 12 months to the day of the announcement.
Cartoon by Dennis Flad, with permission (2021)
My colleague in Zurich, Dennis Flad, penciled this cartoon of the impact a pitch like this would have on the hundreds or perhaps thousands of agency staff and their families as they were preparing for their festive holiday. What made the timing of the announcement even more ironic was the launch of the Coca Cola Christmas television commercial last year, telling the story of the father who goes to extraordinary lengths to fulfil his child’s Christmas wish, which it turns out is having him home for Christmas.
So, what is it that makes many marketers choose this time of year to call a pitch or review of their agency arrangements? What is it about the coming holidays that makes that little light globe go on in the minds of those marketers, who suddenly think it is time to review their incumbent agencies?
Really like this timely reminder that people are people. Heard a quote recently – “people aren’t the most important part of your business, they ARE your business.”